JWST 245. Jewish Life in the Islamic World.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
JWST 245
Jewish Life in the Islamic World.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Jewish Studies (Faculty of Arts)
This course is not offered this catalogue year.
Description
Until the early modern period, most of the world’s Jews spoke Arabic and called the Islamic world home. This course explores the Jewish experience among Muslims from the seventh century until the present. Through close readings of primary sources and historical scholarship, students will learn how Jews under Islam shaped modern Judaism, how engagement with Arabic in Islamic Spain
led to the revival of Hebrew, and how the Jewish-Muslim relationship fared in the twentieth century. The course also probes themes of history and memory in light of the departure of Jews from the Islamic world in the 1950s and 1960s.
- For detailed course content go to www.mcgill.ca/jewishstudies/undergraduates.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule Builder